LUGGAGE RACK, STRAPS, and of course - LUGGAGE

This thing has no trunk (boot for you folks in the UK)

Over the last few years, as I have immersed myself in steam, I have studied the various original configurations and replications of the Locomobile early models a well some of the early Stanleys.  

One thing I see is that any extra "stuff" gets strapped to the running boards, on the back somewhere, or piled on the rear deck.  I looked into some type of side mounting on the lower frame members,  or any place else.  I did not like the way it might look on either of the sides.   As I said in the previous post, I am expecting a wicker basket/box to mount on the back over the burner. I know there will be space in there for some items, but I wanted to carry more items that might be needed on a "tour" occasionally, like tools, jack, spare tire tubes, as opposed to things like an oil can or canvas water bucket that would be needed to be accessed more often.

So I decided to make a rear deck luggage rack with leather straps to hold some type of trunk or box.  I have a number of wood camping boxes from my days as a buck-skinner, (1985 era) but those were just a bit too wide to fit and look nice.   

A search on Ebay yielded a once-in-a-lifetime find.  It was listed as a machinist tool box.  In fact it was a steamer type trunk from the 1900's made by a luggage company in Chicago, Kuntzendorf & Co.  It has seen better days, and had been painted, including the leather corner bands.   But at a princely sum of $35.00 I could not pass it up.    One week later, it was sitting on a table in front of me. 

 At 29 inches long, 7 inches wide and 12 inches tall the trunk is the perfect size to fit on the read deck. I wanted to experiment a little with paint, and needed to find a "Brush-on" version of the BRG (British Racing Green) paint I used on the engine and also the side louvers.  I rolled the dice and ordered a can of Dark Hunter Green (Rustoleum) from the local DIY store (Home Depot) and then proceeded to see if I could strip the paint off.  I was a little worried about the leather on the corners,  but it turns out it is almost a raw-hide thickness and stood up to the paint stripper.  Of course I used the Citrus-Strip that does not eat flesh as I figured it might leave the leather intact.  

After stripping the paint, then scrubbing the result, and finally sanding the flat surface and using a dremel on the corner pieces,  the real look of the trunk starts to emerge.  I used some satin black paint on the horizontal bands as well as the hinges.   The leather was treated with a classic car leather restorer.

At the same time, I used some of my epoxy wood treatment (same as I used as a primer on the body panels) to coat and stabilize the insides of the box.  

While I was waiting for the paint to come in,  I went in search of some leather luggage rack straps.  On Ebay I found a company - Leiberings Leatherworks.   https://www.ebay.com/str/leiberingsleatherworks 

They have a selection of products but I needed some specific lengths of straps, plus I wanted a total of three straps - a private conversation yielded a deal and in short order I had my luggage straps, perfect lengths. Plus they threw in a few extra loops for securing the tails of the straps.   Great service.  

I then put the trunk in place to locate the loops for securing the straps to the luggage rack area of the rear deck.

 

 The paint finally came in - I managed to get a first couple of coats on before the weather turned cold.  The metal sheathing on the trunk is in pretty rough shape, but it took the paint ok.   Just shows the age. 

The jury is still out on if I paint the corner brackets a Black, or do I just leave them "bright".   Starting with them bright.  Lots of dents and "character lines".  

I think it looks pretty good on the rear deck.  

 

A final note. 

Today is October 19, 2024.   

The boilers have finally passed all tests.   A long road.  I hope that STW has their shit together and when my shipment shows up in a month, that I am not missing the "one piece" I need to get the final assembly underway.  Winter in Colorado is rapidly approaching.  This means I will have to close up the garage part of the shop and move into my basement.

I will probably not post for a while. I have kinda run out of the "extra" things to get in trouble with.  The body will stay intact and on the frame until I hear that my next shipment is "in the air".  Then I will disassemble the body down to the "studs" (frame) in preparation of working on the pipework,  

In the meantime, thanks for reading. 

Jim Pope

(Poppapope)

Denver, Colorado USA

OK, I lied, this is the last look at the body for now.

 Pinstripes 

I have always seen a variety of pinstripes on Locomobiles and Stanley Steamers.  The book, Genealogy of the Locomobile, lists a number of color schemes.  I had chosen the "Brewster Green on Black" combination as the palette for mine.   Of course,  you also have to have Brass as a major color component.

I knew that my hands and eyes would not yield a straight line with any success, so I looked to others for adding pinstripes to my Lyka. 

I looked at the various "sub-cultures" of the automotive community for inspiration and a source of artists.  In Denver, you find custom car builders, mostly "Low-Riders" in the Hispanic community, also a large gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts.   You have mountain riders, dirt bike racers, and of course - Harley Davidson and related cycle clubs.  I looked to the Harley community and found a pinstriper named Jon Brock, Pinstriping by Brock.  We talked last June and planned for getting together after the summer.   

Jon maintains a residence and shop in Evergreen, Colorado and Sturgis, South Dakota.  He has probably striped thousands of cars and bikes in his career.  Over three days, fitting me in between calls from body shops, he added the final touches to my Lyka.   I did learn from him the importance of planning.  Basically, if you are going to stripe the tubular frame, do that BEFORE you add the rest of the body.  He was not able to get his hand into the proper position to fully stripe the leaf-springs, and some of the tubular chassis got a single line rather than the rectangular shapes that you see in many pictures. 

The end results - I love the look.  

Jon uses a lot of masking tape, many times he will use it as a guide for his fingers rather than as a "paint block." He says he relies a lot on the feel of the brush as it travels along the surface.

I told Jon he had a "blank canvas" on the back of the seat.

Jon had to get in some positions that I would not fit into.

Rear Deck - Luggage Rack

Looking at other Lykas, and the original Locomobiles (along with all the variants),  I am not seeing a lot of storage of luggage -  Meaning - "Those things you lug around."  I know there is a wicker basket mounted on the back panel that covers up the burner, but I am not sure of any internal storage for tools, oil cans - Steam oils and parts lubrication, or jacks, etc.

So in looking at the Lyka, I see that at some point I may want to put stuff on the back deck.  Since the deck is a large, flat, hi-gloss surface,  I could see a lot of scratches in my future.   To mitigate that, I looked at building a "luggage rack" area using strips of 1/2 round brass as "rub rails".  I cut, polished and fit a number of strips in a pattern that looked good and I think will fit the need.  I have also acquired some straps and loops to hold things in place.   

Finally - I picked up a trunk to actually hold all the stuff.  I will cover that in the next post.   

 

And - Here is the result.  

When the boiler shows up and it is time to build the piping and internals, I will remove the body panels and store them away in order to open up the frame access.

Thanks for reading,

Jim (Poppapope) 

Denver, Co USA

Kit 23 - Body Panels - A final look.

Just a quick look before I put the body in storage.

First we needed to prepare the brass for installation.

I used 1/2 round 3/8in brass and drilled counter-sunk holes for #4 x 3/4in Brass Oval Head Screws.

My assistant Miles,  milling a countersunk hole in brass 1/2 round.

Then each piece gets fitted to the body panel.  I use a small dremel to pre-drill the hole for the wood screw.  This avoids any splitting.  

And a final look. 

I will be leaving the body panels in place until the next shipment arrives.   My boiler is being inspected next week and then packing for shipment along with the parts and pieces being stored by STW.

I am going to have a professional pin-stripe artist come by and embellish her before I pull the body apart and prep for the next round of assembly.  

 

Next step - Boiler and pipes.

Thanks for reading. 

Poppapope

Denver, CO USA